On January 3, 2009, a person by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin. It was easy to mine, was worthless, and contained a hidden message. Nine years on and Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency everyone’s heard of, and each one is (at the time of writing) worth a small fortune.

The Bitcoin Genesis Story

The Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto mined on January 3, 2009 has come to be known as the Genesis Block or Block 0. It contains 50 Bitcoins which at the time were worthless, but which would now be worth over $700,000. This was the start of the cryptocurrency revolution still happening.

The Genesis Block contained a hidden message reading, “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” This refers to a newspaper headline detailing how the British Government were bailing out the banks, which may have been Nakamoto’s inspiration.

On 3rd January 2009, #Satoshi started the bitcoin network by mining the first block. Also, known as Block 0 or Genesis Block.

Nakamoto mined another block of 50 bitcoin six days later on January 9, and went onto mine an estimated 1 million bitcoin. This makes Nakamoto, whose identity remains a mystery to this day despite attempts to unmask him, by far the largest holder of Bitcoin, and a virtual billionaire.

Satoshi Nakamoto hasn’t been active since 2011, and his Bitcoin stash hasn’t been touched since. And anyone with a stake in Bitcoin should hope Nakamoto never decides to cash in, as his doing so would flood the market with Bitcoin and cause the price to drop precipitously.

The Future of Bitcoin

The future of Bitcoin isn’t yet clear. Some people will tell you the price will keep on rising until it eventually hits $1 million. While others are cashing out now because they think the price has peaked. Regardless, with hundreds of other cryptocurrencies out there this idea will persist.

Do you own any Bitcoin? If so, at what stage did you jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon? Are you in it for the long haul or just looking to make a quick buck? Who do you think Satoshi Nakamoto is? And will they ever reveal themselves? Please let us know in the comments below!